Chapter One
Ichigo's eyes opened. "A strange dream," he thought. Certainly, not the sort of dream an ordinary seventeen year old boy should be having. He reached out limply in an effort to silence his buzzing alarm clock. It escaped his hand and fell crashing towards the floor. "Great…" he muttered as he followed the squeaking contraption out of bed.
It seemed like there was never enough time to sleep anymore. Between his studies and his family, Ichigo felt like he had no time to himself. To make up for this, he had perhaps been staying up a bit too late. Oh well. Nothing he could do really… "Wait the time!," he yelped after noticing that it was only ten minutes before his school's starting bell. "I can't be late," he breathed. "I can't be late! Not today!"
Maybe it was the fact that he was running too fast. Maybe it was the fact that he had no food. Maybe it was the fact that he was tired. Maybe it was a mixture of all of those things. But a block away from his school and a minute from being late, Ichigo saw it. Something he had never seen before. A giant monkey, only it didn't have a monkey's head. In fact, it didn't have a head. Where its head should have been was a featureless mask. It was rounded and devoid of expression, except for two black slits that one might assume were eyes. Ichigo stared at it.
"What is that thing?" he wondered. He had now come to a complete stop. He looked around hoping that the myriad of other people walking near to him would be just as intrigued, as well as concerned, as he was. However, no one seemed to notice the strange creature. In fact, everyone was walking right past it as if it were not there at all. Ichigo stood confused, at least until he had captured the beast's attention.
Ichigo gave a startled jump when he realized that the creature had seen him. He turned to keep walking, but before he could take another step, it was in front of him. He saw it more closely now. It was shaped like a monkey, but had no fur. Instead of feet it just had small stubs, and where its hands should have been were two slender flaps. He recoiled and lost his footing.
"Ouch," a plump man yelled as Ichigo fell backwards onto his shoe. "Watch yourself!" he seethed before continuing on his way.
Scrambling to his feet, Ichigo looked back towards the beast, only now it was no longer there. A chill ran down his spine. "Where had it gone?" he thought. "It was just right over…" His eyes surveyed the street all the way up to his school building. But it was gone. It had completely vanished. "That was weird," Ichigo muttered before remembering school. "Oh no! I am late!"
"Very nice of you to join us Kurosaki-kun," announced Ichigo's teacher as he tiptoed through the back of the class. "I see you are late as usual. And on a test day? Oh well, you might as well start. You'll just be missing the first section of the test. Hopefully you pass."
Ichigo's face turned red. Perhaps even more red than his hair. There was a snickering emanating from his classmates. "Oh well…" thought Ichigo as he sat down at his desk and picked up his pencil. "I've got to ace this!"
"Ace this!?" Ichigo's mind raced. "I don't this stuff... I really should have studied for this last night! What was I doing anyway?" He knew that he had been waiting to take this test all year and that he had studied for it. But, for some reason, he couldn't recall any of the information. Nothing. His mind was blank. "I'm doomed…"
Giving up on the test, Ichigo spent the next hour and a half thinking about his dream. It had seemed so vivid. He was dressed differently. He was talking with strangers that had swords. He had one too. He was fighting. Fighting alongside Orihime-san, Chad-san, and Uryu-san. Why were they in his dream? He hardly knew his classmates.
His once vivid dream was becoming blurry now. He couldn't remember who or what he had been fighting. Only that there were lots of them. He vaguely remembered fighting someone with sky blue hair. Maybe not fighting? He remembered a city. He remembered a desert. There had been something there; in the desert. What was it? He closed his eyes, and began to focus. Why couldn't he remember? Everything seemed black in his memory. "Hmmph," he strained. All he could bring to mind was a loud sound, something like an engine, but louder. Why couldn't he see what was making the sound? "Oh well, best not to-" Ichigo thought.
"Try not to strain yourself Kurosaki-kun," his teacher spoke flatly. "I said that your time is up. Please hand me your test."
Ichigo looked down at his test in horror. He had barely completed anything. "I…" he gulped.
"I can already tell that you'll need some extra credit to make up for this," his teacher sighed while gesturing to Ichigo's test sheet. "Report to my office after school and i'll assign you clean-up duty or something…"
Ichigo's head fell in shame. "Yes sensei," he muttered.
Ichigo continued sweeping the rooftop floor. "Why does the roof need to be swept anyway!? We aren't allowed up here" he thought.
"Stupid dream. Stupid alarm clock. Stupid monke-" he grumbled. "The monkey…" I wonder what type of monkey it was anyway? It definitely wasn't a normal one. That was for sure. …Oh well, he wouldn't ever know. "Stupid bad day!"
"Honestly, there is no way for this day to get any worse" he shouted off of the rooftop. But, there was no one around to hear him.
Or was there? He heard the bucket that he had been using earlier fall to the ground. It made several clanging noises. "Is anybody there?" asked Ichigo. There was no reply. Frowning, Ichigo let out a sigh, "Must have been the wind…"
Another clang. Ichigo whirled around. This time it was one of the trash cans toppling over. "Okay! Who is there?" Ichigo shouted. No response. "It's not funny…"
Then he felt something touch his leg. He jumped backwards in shock. Still reeling, Ichigo looked at the spot where he had been standing just moments ago to see something he didn't expect. A cat. A black cat. It was slender with bright yellow eyes. Those same eyes seemed to be bearing through him with an intense gaze. Yes, the cat was definitely starring at him.
Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. "Shoo! How did you even get up here anyway?" Ichigo asked as he threw a crushed soda can at the small animal. It didn't move, even when the can landed just inches away from its tail. In fact, the cat almost seemed to smirk at him, as if it were taunting Ichigo. "Fine then… if that is how you want to play it!" Ichigo bellowed as he charged towards the cat.
The cat casually sidestepped Ichigo causing the teenager to stumble over the fallen trash bin. "Ouch…" Ichigo groaned as he got back on his feet. "You little… wait where'd you go?"
The cat was no longer anywhere to be seen. Ichigo searched the entire roof, but it was gone. How did it get up there anyway? Probably someone trying to keep a cat on top of the school so that their parents wouldn't know. "Stupid...," he thought. Wait. "Shit, I left the door to the roof open. Hopefully the cat didn't run in… Uhhg" he complained as he headed back down the stairwell while looking for the small cat.
"Today really hasn't been my day with animals." he mumbled.
Finished with his punishment, Ichigo packed up and started towards his house. He smelled like garbage and was more exhausted than ever. He sighed. At least the weather wasn't bad anymore. It was spring now. Even at night the temperature was still somewhat warm. The sun had already gone down, but there was some light. The stars were beginning to come out. They all looked so familiar. Ichigo didn't pay attention to the stars very often, but tonight they seemed more recognizable than ever before.
Recognizable. Funny. Ichigo couldn't think of the last time he had seen so many stars. Was it last spring? "No, definitely not" he pondered. Why did his life seem so bland? He couldn't remember looking at the stars. It seemed like the thing he would have done with friends at some point. If he had any. That thought made Ichigo a little bit sad. He was seventeen and more or less friendless. Sure, he said hello to people here and there, but no one seemed to stick.
Ichigo felt like he had friends at some point, but couldn't recall anyone in particular. In fact, he couldn't recall anything about himself either. He was completely ordinary. He was seventeen, lived at home with his dad and two sisters, and had until this point got average grades. He couldn't remember doing something out of the ordinary in his entire life. He didn't question it. It was probably for the best. Quite honestly, he was surprised no one made fun of him for his hair color or his name.
Feeling a bit sentimental, Ichigo happened to look back up towards the sky and see a shooting star. "Woah," he grunted. Feeling a bit embarrassed at his response, Ichigo turned to see if anyone was following him, but there was no one. He felt a bit better and looked back up towards the sky. The shooting star was still there. It was soaring through the air; a flash of very bright light.
Ichigo wondered when it would become invisible again, until he realized that it wasn't moving away from him, but getting closer. "Uh… Oh no!" he yelped. "It's not a shooting star, it's a meteorite!" In a state of shock, Ichigo began to panic. He scuttled from place to place, until he ended up under a tree.
"Why is no one around to see this!?" Ichigo's mind raced. "Leave it to me, the most ordinary guy ever, to die this way." Ichigo prepared himself as the meteor's glowing light hurtled closer towards him. However, much to his surprise and delight, the glowing object continued to soar past him over the trees and further into the nearby park. Ichigo then heard a loud bang.
The meteor had hit the ground. Again, why was no one around to see this? Ichigo raced towards where the sound had come from. It was strange, running towards possible danger felt natural to him. Maybe it was because his dad ran a clinic.
He knew that he had to see if everything was alright.
It had gotten so dark, Ichigo could barely see where he was going. He tripped over a branch and cursed. He got back up and kept going. Something was driving him to survey the damage. Ichigo was almost there, he could feel it. There was a soft glow coming from just up ahead. He jumped through the trees. His feet came to a stop, and then he saw it.
It felt even more cold than usual. The desert was as dark and barren as it always was, but there was a gnawing chill this night. Maybe it was because they were moving faster than before? An old and worn man breathed out a heavy sigh.
"Something the matter?" asked a tall and slender woman. "You seem tense," she smirked.
"Just the damn sound…" the man said with a scowl.
"Do try and relax. Engines make sound and we need the engines to keep moving," she replied apathetically. "Besides, your job is almost done. Just a bit longer and you'll be free to go."
The man did not believe her. In fact, he wondered if a single truth had ever crossed the threshold of her lips. She had a sort of pouty expression; a forced smile that mirrored her odious personality.
"Cheer up," she laughed coldly as she turned to leave; long and dark curly hair flowing in the breeze.
He watched her disappear back inside. She was an alluring creature, but for every ounce of beauty she possessed was an exponentially larger amount of malice and cruelty. To think, a Shinigami would make an arrancar cringe. It was amusing.
